Bill Text: CA AB1698 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Package Theft Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1698 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1698-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Package Theft Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1698 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1698-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1698
| Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein |
January 25, 2022 |
An act to add and repeal Section 490.3 of the Penal Code, relating to theft.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1698, as introduced, Maienschein.
Organized Package Theft Act.
Existing law makes mail theft a crime, punishable by a fine, by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both a fine and imprisonment. Existing federal law also makes mail theft a crime, punishable by a fine, imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill would, until January 1, 2026, make a person guilty of organized package theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified, if the person acted in concert with one or more persons to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, with the intent to sell or return the contents of the package for value, acted in concert with 2 or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess a package or the contents of a package knowing or
believing it to have been stolen, acted as an agent of another to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, as part of an organized plan to commit theft, or recruited, coordinated, organized, supervised, directed, managed, or financed another to undertake acts of package theft. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Organized Package Theft Act.SEC. 2.
Section 490.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:490.3.
(a) A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of organized package theft, and shall be punished pursuant to subdivision (b):(1) Acts in concert with one or more persons to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, with the intent to sell, exchange, or return the contents of the package for value.
(2) Acts in concert with two or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess a package or the contents of a package described in paragraph (1), knowing or believing it to have been stolen.
(3) Acts as an
agent of another individual or group of individuals to steal one or more packages that have been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, as part of an organized plan to commit theft.
(4) Recruits, coordinates, organizes, supervises, directs, manages, or finances another to undertake any of the acts described in paragraph (1) or (2) or any other statute defining theft of packages.
(b) Organized package theft is punishable as follows:
(1) If violations of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) are committed on two or more separate occasions within a 12-month period, and if the aggregated value of the contents of the packages stolen, received, purchased, or possessed within that 12-month period exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), the offense
is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(2) Any other violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) that is not described in paragraph (1) of this subdivision is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year.
(3) A violation of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(c) For the purpose of determining whether the defendant acted in concert with another person or persons in any proceeding, the trier of fact may consider any competent evidence, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
(1) The defendant has previously acted
in concert with another person or persons in committing acts constituting theft, or any related offense, including any conduct that occurred in counties other than the county of the current offense, if relevant to demonstrate a fact other than the defendant’s disposition to commit the act.
(2) That the defendant used or possessed an artifice, instrument, container, device, or other article capable of facilitating the removal of a package that has been left for delivery at the exterior of a residence, or any other place commonly used to deliver packages, and use of the artifice, instrument, container, or device or other article is part of an organized plan to commit theft.
(d) In a prosecution under this section, the prosecutor shall not be required to charge any other coparticipant of the organized package theft.
(e) Upon conviction of an offense under this section, the court shall consider ordering, as a condition of probation, that the defendant stay away from a residence or other place commonly used to deliver packages when the location has a reasonable nexus to the crime committed.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.
